Cloth folding and holding device.



No. 678,945. Patented July 23, I90I.

N. P. DENGKLA. CLOTH FOLDING AND HOLDING DEVICE.

(Application filed Oct. 4, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NELSINE P. DENCKLA, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

CLOTH FOLDING AND HOLDING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,945, dated July 23,1901.

Application filed October 4, 1900. Serial No. 32,024. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSINE P. DENCKLA, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Work Devices; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a sewing-work-supporting device and to aband-forming device adapted to be attached to a persons leg for holdingone end of fabrics while manually sewing them and to form bands ofnarrow strips of clot-h; and the objects of my invention are, first, toprovide a resilient clamping-ring that a person can spring around theleg either above or below the knee and having secured to it aspring-controlled clamping-vise and a pair of adjustable die-jawsadapted to turn over and flatten down the edges of a narrow strip ofcloth and to form narrow bands with turned edges of the strips. I attainthese objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved band-forming andsewing-work-supporting device. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of thebed-plate of the bandforming device. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of thecap of the band-forming device. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of theadjustable jawplate of the band-forming device. Fig. 7 is a sideelevation of the band-forming device, showing the opposite side fromthat shown in Fig. 1 and a fragment of the clamping-ring; and Fig. Sisan end view of the spring clamping-clasp, showing the opposite end viewfrom that shown in Fig. 2.

Similar figures of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a round flat dividedring of resilient material, preferably steel. Its free ends 2 and 3 aremade blunt by curving them outward and backward from the periphery ofthe ring. To this ring at a point opposite its free ends I secure by anysuitable means, preferably by rivets 4, the lower jaw 5 of aclamping-vise 6, the upper jaw '7 of which is pivotally attached to thelower jaw by a pivotal pin 8. A wedge-shaped space 9 is formed in oneend of the jaws, in which a spring 10 is secured. One end of this springbears on and is secured to the lower jaw, and the opposite end bears onand is secured to the upper jaw and holds them constantly underresilient pressure apart, thus holding the 0pposite ends 11 and 12 ofthe jaws forcibly together. These ends are the cloth-clamping ends ofthe cloth-clamping. device. The opposing surfaces of these jaws may befluted or serrated by flutes or corrugations 12*; but I preferablysecure a piece of rubber 13 and 13 to each jaw and provide its opposingsurfaces with fiutes or corrugations. The rubber makes a soft cushioningfrictional surface that holds cloth securely with but littlespring-pressure of the jaws upon it without allowing cloths or fabricsto slip through the jaws and without danger of fraying or turning them.To the upper jaw of the work-clamp ing device I secure the band-formingdevice by screws 14. This device may be made of any suitable materialand comprises the bedplate 15, which contains at its ends boxshapedportions 16 and 17, that are formed by upward-extending side portions,which extend above the top of the plate and over its top toward eachother, leaving a slot 18 between them at their central portions.- Theplate contains at one side a laterally-projecting portion 19, throughwhich the screws 14 pass that hold it to the upper jaw of the clampingdevice. At one end of this laterally-projecting portion a jaw 21 isformed. This jaw comprises an upward-turned portion, which is turned upfrom the bed-plate and is curved over to form a segment of a circle andis also diverged or flared-outward from the bed-plate. An adjustableplate 23 rests on the floor of the bed-plate. The plate 23 rests on thebed-plate and extends slidably into the box portions at its ends. In oneend of the plate a slot 22 is formed, and at one edge there is anupward-extending side portion 23, extending from the slot end to thecentral portion of the length of the plate, where it is curved outwardto form a jaw 24. This jaw is curved to form a segment of a circle atits outer end and is also 5 flared outward from the plate and isarranged to stand opposite the jaw 21, and together they form a taperchannel with segmental curved sides that operate when a strip of clothis drawn through them of slightly-wider width than the distance apartthey are set at to turn or fold its edges over as the cloth is drawnthrough them. A thumb-screw 24 extends through the slot in the plate andis screwed loosely to the bed-plate and extends slightly through it, andits ends are slightly upset, but only enough so as to prevent its beingunscrewed from the bed-plate, which at the same time allows it to beturned a half or a full revolution, so that it can be turned enough toeither loosen the jaw-plate, so that it can be moved along, or to clampit in an adjusted position. Consequently the jaw and its plate can bemoved either toward or from the jaw 21 and secured at any desired pointwithin the range of its sliding movement, and thus enable bands ofvarying widths to be formed. A cap-plate 25 rests on the j awplate andalso extends loosely through the boxes at the ends. This cap-platecomprises a strip of metal with upward-turned side edges. A bow-shapedspring 26 is secured permanently at one of its ends by a pin 27 to oneend of the cap, and its opposite end rests loosely on the plate betweenits sides near its opposite end, which contains at its extremity arecess 28, that enables this end to pass'by the thumb-screw 24. The capis held by the pin in the fingers of an operator and is pushed into theboxes at the ends of the bed-plate. As it is pushed through the firstbox its spring bends down and passes under the top portion of the box,and when it is pushed its full length into both boxes of the bed-platethe spring bears resiliently against the inside edges 30 and 31 of theboxes and holds the cap by its elastic tension down on the jawplate,while at the same time it can be easily withdrawn from the boxes of thebed-plate by the fingers of the operator.

The operation of the device is as follows: It is preferably sprung overthe leg of an operator either above or below the knee and a strip ofcloth that is to have its edges folded over and sewed into a band ofsome predetermined width is taken, and the jaws of the forming deviceare set to the Width it is desired the band to be. For example, supposeyou wish to make a band about one-half inch wide. The jaws are set atthat distance apart by sliding the jaw to that position and thejaw-plate is set by tightening the thumbscrew. A strip of cloth aboutone inch wide is then taken and after removing the cap from thebed-plate is laid between the jaws and with one end extending justacross the jaw-plate far enough to catch hold of. The cap is then pushedinto the bed-plate boxes,

which clamps the strip between therap and the jaw plate. The strip isthen drawn through the jaws, which curls and turns the edges of thestrip over onto the body of the strip, and as it is drawn under the cappresses them down against the body of the strip, thus forming a bandwith turned and pressed edges, it requiring but a few seconds to set thejaws and draw through a long strip or a number of strips, while the workof folding these edges by hand would require a good many moments, orperhaps an hour. This band-former makes a smoothly-folded band of evenwidth. After the band is made one end is placed between the jaws of theclamping device and the edges can be sewed by hand, if desired. Theclamping device is more particularly adapted for holding any kind of afabric or cloth at one end while sewing-work is being done on it.

While I have shown and described the band-forming device attached to thetop portion of the clamping device, I do not wish to be limited to thisarrangement, as I wish to also place the former on a supporting-ring byitself, as shown in Fig. 7.

My invention is simple, useful, and easily operated.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is j 1. In a band-forming and sewing-workclampingdevice, the combination of a divided spring-ring, with a band-formingdevice comprising a bed-plate secured to the top of said clamping clasp,and having an inwardlycurved, flaring jaw formed on one of its sideedges, an adjustable jaw plate slidably mounted on said bed-plate, andhaving also an inwardly-curved flaring jaw arranged opposite the jaw ofsaid bed-plate, a thumbscrew arranged to clamp said jaw-plate to saidbed-plate and a spring-controlled plate arranged to hold a strip ofcloth under resilient pressure against said adjustable jaw-plate and insaid band-forming jaws, substantially as described.

2. In a device for forming cloth bands by hand, the combination of anelastic claspingring adapted to spring over the leg of an operator, abed-plate secured to said ring having a stationary jaw, a sliding plateresting on said bed-plate also having a jaw arranged opposite the jaw onsaid bed-plate and hav- IIO ing said jaws curved toward each other andplate securedto the clamping-vise and com prising the bed-plate, theboxes at the ends of said bed-plate, the lateral projection on saidbed-plate, the inwardly-curved, outwardly-fiared jaw formed on saidbed-plate,

and the cap-plate fitting slidably in the boxes of said bed-plate andhaving a spring arranged to hold it resiliently against said j awplate,and adapted to hold and press the bands down on said jaw-plate andflatten and press their edges after the jaws have turned them,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NELSINE P. DENOKLA.

Witnesses:

HENRY J. DENCKLA, CLARA IRWIN.

